Today is May 23, 2008 - CMS implements NPI only on HIPAA electronic transactions and paper claim forms

In keeping with the Contingency Guidance issued in April 2007, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now requires that Medicare fee-for-service providers submit their National Provider Identifier (NPI) only in all provider identifier fields for all Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and paper transactions in which a provider identifier is required. These transactions include all electronic and paper claims (837I, 837P, NCPDP, DDE and paper CMS-1500 and UB-04), the 276/277 claims status transaction, the 270/271 eligibility transaction, 835 remittance advice and SPR paper remittance). If you send Medicare a transaction with a Medicare legacy identifier in any of the provider fields, the claim will be rejected. If claims are rejected, you should first go to your National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) record and validate that your claim form information is consistent with the NPPES database. If claims continue to be rejected, you may need to update your Medicare enrollment information (CMS-855 form) if you have not done so since 2003.
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